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The Railway in Whittlesey reopens this weekend after a £300,000 refurbishment by Heineken, one of their largest investments in the country, and the relaunched pub looks fantastic. Yesterday l was shown around by Landlord Simon Baines and got to pull the first pint, using the new Heineken Smart Dispenser which ensures each pint is of …

My letter to the local funding body set to receive a further £37.6 million from the Government next month highlights a number of new concerns. It has emerged today that comments made to me by the Chief Executive at our meeting on 20th January were untrue, and that they have privately “apologised profusely” to the …

A number of school head teachers have been working closely with me in recent weeks on the issue of school funding and I thought it helpful to provide an update. The first point to make is that the government consultation on school funding only closed this week and so no final decisions have been made. …

Sir Amyas Morse, Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO), has confirmed in a letter to me that the NAO will now investigate the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) following the concerns I raised over its governance and value for money. The NAO has further confirmed that the Department …

It was great to welcome the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, to Fenland today to sign the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal. In the past major Government announcements tended to be signed in Cambridge and I am keen to ensure the north of the county receives more attention. In visiting …

Just under a month ago we were one of just twelve areas nationally to win a place on the Department for Education’s flagship opportunity area programme bringing £6 million of extra funding to Fenland and East Cambs schools, further funding for a new research school to help share best practice, and priority access to a …

The beleaguered Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chairman Mark Reeve and Chief Executive Neil Darwin have made damning allegations against Cambridgeshire County Council over the lack of progress on Wisbech Rail. The LEP allege that the County Council ignored the LEP on Wisbech Rail for over a year, however they managed to …

We have money ready to spend on the next phase of Wisbech Rail – with £10.5 million already allocated by Government for Wisbech Transport Improvements from which several million pounds can be used for the next phase of engineering studies. Yet for the last year there has been little action from the Local Enterprise Partnership …

Just after noon today the Government announced a further £37.62 million of funding for the Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough (LEP) area, including an Enterprise Zone which it stated should be in the north of the county. The press note goes even further, adding to “the north in areas such as Fenland”. This signal could …